The electrical industry has essentially standardized components of many types of electrical switch and electrical receptacle systems for everyday residential and light commercial use with conventional electrical power, e.g., 120 VAC 60 Hz power, 240 VAC 60 Hz power, etc. Each of these systems generally comprises an electrical box; one or more wiring devices of various types, e.g., toggle switches, rocker switches, rotary switches, and duplex receptacles, among others; and a wallplate.
Many of these systems allow for the ganging, i.e., locating within the same electrical box, of wiring devices in various numbers and combinations. The process of roughing-in wiring devices into their respective boxes is straightforward and requires little precision in the manner of work. In order to complete the job, each wiring device is secured positively to its electrical box at opposing edges of the box, and the wall plate is in turn secured to the wiring devices.
Generally, without any sort of wiring device installation tool, it is difficult and time consuming for an installer of ganged wiring devices to ensure that each wiring device is truly vertical or horizontal, as the case may be, as well as precisely spaced from and aligned with other wiring devices with which it is ganged so that the faceplate engages all of the wiring devices properly. Therefore, “crooked” switches and outlets remain a common complaint in the building industry despite varied attempts over the years to solve this installation problem.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,818,824 discloses a ganging tool for adjusting the position of a pair of ganged wiring devices in an electrical box. This ganging tool has a frame having a pair of apertures for receiving and holding different kinds of wiring devices, rotatable toggle adaptors mounted across these apertures allowing the positioning of toggle switches when in the first of two possible positions and allowing the positioning of other types of wiring devices when in the second of two possible positions, and a leveling means for determining the level of the wiring devices. This ganging tool has a complex design that hinders the performance of the tool. It requires a rotatable toggle adapter to position combinations of different types of wiring devices, which makes the device inconvenient to use. Further, because the adapter engages only half of the margin of a toggle switch, its accuracy is unreliable.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,888,880, discloses an electrician's tool, which comprises a combination template, spirit level, and a pair of locating pins stored in the housing when not being used to locate a standard duplex outlet. A lip on the right-hand edge of the template defines a stop-forming abutment for locating a second duplex outlet or a toggle switch in the precise ganged relation necessary to accept an appropriately apertured wallplate. The edge of the tool used to locate the margin of the base of the toggle switch is not a reliable reference point because the margin is not defined by industry standards and varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. Further, there is no way to incorporate into this device a means to install the newer Decora® (or GFIC) switches and outlets. Moreover, it requires a user to install removable screws every time the user needs to position a receptacle which makes the tool clumsy to use.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,279,080 discloses a template with integrated spirit level for positioning a pair of standard duplex outlets or toggle switches in electrical boxes. On one face of the template are dowel pins positioned to engage the precise tapped openings in toggle switches which receive the screws used for the mounting of their wall plates. On the opposite face of the template are recesses configured to engage the margins of standard duplex outlets. These recesses are spanned by webs which hold the positioning dowels on the opposite face. There is no reference either in the description or the drawings to a recess defined by the contours of Decora® switches and outlets (including GFIC outlets). Nor would such a refinement be possible since the webs which hold the toggle switch positioning dowels would forbid the rocker assemblies of Decora® switches from being received into recesses sufficiently deep to engage the margins of the switch and thereby allow the proper positioning of the switch. The slots in the center of the recesses configured to engage the margins of standard duplex outlets are necessary to receive switch toggles but are so scant in their contours relative to the full contours of toggle switches that they lack significant positioning utility. The template is limited to adjusting the position of either ganged toggle switches or ganged duplex receptacles. It cannot be used for ganged combinations of different types of wiring devices. A further problem with the interface between the two faces is the impracticality of the positioning dowels located for precise registry with the tapped openings in toggle switches which receive the screws used for the mounting of their wall plates. While positioning a toggle switch or a pair of such switches is described, there is simply no place for the second pair of dowels to go when positioning either a single switch or a switch with a duplex outlet. Further, this template is clumsy and dangerous to carry due to pointed dowel pins that project from one of its surfaces.
All the devices disclosed in the prior art either cannot be adapted to a wide variety of electrical devices available today, are very complex, are not convenient in operation, have limited utility, or are not reliably accurate.